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How to Make a Bird by Martine MurrayReaders familiar with Martine Murray’s writing will know this story of Mannie, a slightly eccentric 17-year-old, who sets off on a bicycle from her home in country Victoria, bound for Paris. As the story unravels, the reason behind Mannie’s secret early-morning flight from home and the strangeness of her behaviour are revealed.Published 2 March, 2005 How to Make a Bird (Martine Murray, Bolinda, $44.95 cd, ISBN 1740948351, February) **** Readers familiar with Martine Murray’s writing will know this story of Mannie, a slightly eccentric 17-year-old, who sets off on a bicycle from her home in country Victoria, bound for Paris. As the story unravels, the reason behind Mannie’s secret early-morning flight from home and the strangeness of her behaviour are revealed. Murray’s writing style tends to the dramatic and the vivid and will not be to everyone’s taste, but I think it is these qualities that are part of what make this translation from text to audio so successful. The imagery-laden text gives narrator Mikaela Martin lots of material to work with, in order to really bring the story to life. An early scene of a pair of abandoned wooden eagle wings is given real impact by the combination of Murray’s words and Martin’s voice. While the unabridged audio version of the novel weighs in at just over seven hours, making it a pretty serious time commitment, I can imagine this book being a beautiful listen for a long car trip or similar—provided the driver didn’t become so distracted by the powerful aural visuals that they forgot to watch the road! Eliza Metcalfe This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2005, Thorpe-Bowker
More from Audio Book Reviews
Maelstrom by Michael MacConnell, read by Sean Mangan
Relentless action marks this debut action thriller set in Boston and the US east coast. Harry Reilly, retired from active FBI duty, believes that a copycat killer is working in the shadows of other serial killers.10 January, 2008
Turner’s Paintbox by Paul Morgan, read by Humphrey Bower
Paul Morgan’s first novel The Pelagius Book drew comparisons from some reviewers to the work of David Malouf. His second, Turner’s Paintbox, published earlier this year by Viking, is a more conventional story set in contemporary Sydney. Gerard Moyne is an art consultant who is on a steady trajectory to international success and wealth.10 January, 2008
Audio Book Reviews
It is a thing of ‘moocow’ innocence, with childish thought and memory tenderly evoked. It is also a thing of great hunger for personal identity. Stephen Dedalus, the central character of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, visualises himself in terms of the world … the universe. Boundaries between himself and the greatness of everything are sought, defined and expressed with ever-increasing hunger for the knowledge of beauty, art and meaning. James Joyce’s remarkable semi-autobiographical novel is truly a great (and very accessible) work of literature, and its beautifully layered and lyrical quality is ideally realised in audio form.27 October, 2006
Audio Book: Ice Station by Matthew Reilly, read by Sean Mangan
I suppose it’s appropriate for Reilly’s adventure, set in a US-run scientific base in Antarctica, to be read in an American (actually, a Canadian) accent. Nonetheless, it’s initially a little off-putting for an Australian production of an Australian novel. Sean Mangan’s reading is well-paced, if a little flat and ‘radio announcer’ in tone at first.20 July, 2005
Audio Book: Are We There Yet? A Journey Around Australia by Alison Lester, read by Genevieve Mooy
An audio version of a picture book about a family’s journey around Australia is just the thing to have in the car. At 20 minutes running time Grace’s recount of a special year, when she and brothers Luke and Billy ‘missed school for the whole winter term’ to travel around Australia with Mum and Dad, might last to the supermarket rather than across the Nullabor but the imaginative and creative possibilities of the audio package could be lifelong.20 July, 2005
Audio Book: Hating Alison Ashley by Robin Klein, read by Felicity Price
Erica Yurken—or ‘Yuk’, ‘Gherkin’ or ‘Erk’ to most of her peers, family and teachers—is convinced she is on her way to greatness. She survives the challenges of life at the ‘disadvantaged’ Barringa East Primary School, by having a fertile imagination and a precocious belief that she is in every way superior to all those around her. But then Alison Ashley arrives.20 July, 2005
Audio Book: A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Grim Grotto, read by Tim Curry
The mystery and quirkiness that has made the print version of ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ so successful has been lovingly recreated and enhanced in this compact disc version of the 11th book. There is a lot to like about a dust jacket that warns you not to listen to the audio book, as the contents are both horrible and distressing. Those brave enough to place the CD into their stereo will be comforted to know that the intricacies of phenomenon known as the ‘Water Cycle’ have been carefully catalogued by Mr Snicket, so as to not delve into the despair of the Baudelaire orphans too early in the narrative.20 July, 2005
Audio Book: Thumbelina and Other Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen, various narrators
A good fairy tale is a splendid thing, richly decorated and as deceptively simple as a snowflake, crystal-woven with glittering images of sweetness and melancholy-edged gladness, immortal in its joyous appeal. The best writers of fairy tales can without exaggeration be called geniuses—and they don’t come better than Hans Christian Andersen.20 July, 2005
Audio Book: Toad Rage, written and read by Morris Gleitzman
Morris Gleitzman was a perfect (and obvious) choice of reader for his book Toad Rage in audio format. In this unabridged adventure, listeners are treated to the fast-paced life of Limpy the cane toad and his endeavour to answer the question that plagues his mind and drives his mission—why do humans hate toads? Limpy, sick of being the local public enemy and watching his relatives through get run over by bloodthirsty truck drivers, decides to leave his family and travel Queensland to try to change all the toad-hating minds.20 July, 2005
Audio Book News...
Got a few hours to spare? Why not curl up with a good novel on audio? Even if time is tight, the great majority of audio books have chapter breaks so you can stop and come back to where you left off.19 July, 2005 |
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